McDonald’s on Friday reported July sales results that were much worse than analysts had expected.

Following the report, the company’s shares traded lower.

The dismal results prompted Janney Capital Markets to lower its estimates for the fast-food giant. Its analysts said the results “were the worst worldwide month in the last 10 years, once trading-day adjustments are taken into account.”

[…]

Same-store sales in the U.S. sank 3.2 percent, weaker than the 2.6 percent expected.

So what happens if McDonald’s goes bankrupt and closes?

Yes, I know that total liquidation is quite unlikely. But I think it is worth considering. As far as I can tell from the rhetoric for a higher minimum wage law, McDonald’s is an exploiter of poor people. The restaurant chain is guilty of paying wages that leave employees in squalor.

Well, if they are such an evil company, then obviously all their employees will be immensely better off if the restaurants are all closed down. Right?

No?

Wait a minute! Are you saying that the sudden disappearance of McDonald’s would be a really bad thing for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of employees? Are you saying that, if there were no McDonald’s chain, these people would not be able to earn money?

So which is it? Is McDonald’s a blessing to its many employees or is it a curse? Are you willing to admit that they make the lives of many, many people much better off? Or are you going to claim that they should disappear and that everyone would be better off without them?